Tag Archives: Self-compassion

Spring is on its way where we live and with the warmer sunshine-filled days comes the melting of snow. And we have a LOT of snow. What happens when giant banks of snow dissolve into water? Puddles. Around our neighbourhood they tend to resemble miniature lakes, where you’re liable to get wet up to your knees. Is there anything more satisfying to a child than coming across a giant puddle, and running through it with reckless abandon?Continue reading →

Superman’s suit worn by Christopher Reeve. Photo taken at the EMP Museum in Seattle.

I remember being 6 years old running on my home’s wrap-around porch and suddenly opening my Spring jacket pretending to be Superman. Then I would run back inside and ask my mom to snap my jacket back up so I coould do it all over again. You see, most of the time I felt more like Clark Kent than Superman. Growing with a disability, I felt fragile and was very dependent on others but imagining I was Mr. Kent gave me hope of becoming a hero.

As I got older, I got stronger and more confident. I developed a strong sense of responsibility, a love for helping people and fixing problems. You might say that those are noble traits, and for the most part you’d be right. These character traits helped me stay out of trouble, gave me purpose and shaped me into a dependable person. But I also developed a hero complex.

Giving advice is often easier than receiving one and applying it! Let it go is a popular saying these days. But what does it mean? For some, it means letting the grieving process run its course. For others, it means letting go of an argument between friends or colleagues; or letting go of a harsh comment someone gave you. It also means letting go of being a perfectionist. I need to work on all of these and I hope that by writing this post, I’ll be able to take my own advice.

You should carefully reread the first paragraph because there are at least ten mistakes in it. If you consider yourself to be a great reader and writer, you should have found some by now. For those of you who are perfectionists, let me stop you right here, I did not intentionally insert ten mistakes. For the rest of you, imagine searching for these mistakes, never finding them but always wondering where they might be or if you found all of them. That is a silly example of how it feels not to let go.

Christmastime is here again. Long gone are the visions of sugarplums dancing in my head. They’ve been replaced with decorating, party planning and shopping for gifts. I’ll admit it, sometimes I begin to feel more like a scrooge than a santa with all of the demands being placed on me around this season. But wait a minute, just who is placing these demands on me, or is it all self-inflicted? This is just one of the questions going through my mind this year.

People don’t always use the word mother in a pleasant fashion. Here’s what everyone should say: Mothers are fantastic! This is the conclusion I drew after sitting a long time in the waiting room of my doctor’s office. Of course, I knew this universal truth before going to my appointment but as many other truths this one tends to be forgotten. And for some reason – probably pertaining to our human nature – mothers are the most forgetful of this, closely followed by their husbands.

I’m a mom of two young kids (in case my “ponytail as a hairstyle” didn’t give it away yet) so “I’m bored” are two words I haven’t said in a long time. Whether it’s tidying up the toys, folding laundry, or a myriad of other jobs, there is always something that needs to get done.

Can you relate? I’m sure you can. No matter your season of life there is always something that needs cleaning, work that needs to be accomplished, and plans to prepare for.

Lately though I’ve been practicing being unproductive. It is taking active un-learning to stop thinking about the next thing that needs to get done long enough to be still and enjoy the moment. Sometimes I do it for 30 seconds while I am drinking my first morning sip of freshly brewed coffee. Other times I try and sit quietly for 5 minutes, this is about as long I can tolerate until the urge to get up and do something kicks in.

There is a fear of falling behind that permeates our decisions. Our work continues to mount as we don’t complete it. We also feel that we are the most capable and that if we didn’t act, nothing would get done. There is an old saying that goes: “the graveyards are full of indispensable people”. It is a telling, albeit somewhat morbid, statement that life goes on, with or without us.

So what value is there in stopping, then, if it risks us falling behind? Here are three observations from my own experience with being purposefully unproductive.

JF and I just came back from SimpleREV which was an amazing experience! Inspired by the conference, I bring you my current thoughts on minimalism, what it means to me and how I am applying it in my life. Part of my update deals with a question posed by author Patrick Rhone, check out his article on Minimal Mac.

Share with us your journey, we’d love to hear your stories. And don’t forget to share this with your friends using the buttons below, thanks!

Do you remember the first time you took the plane? It’s usually nerve wracking. You don’t really know what is suppose to happen, in other words you don’t know what’s normal. You notice every little noise, you might even question what the pilot is doing – as if we could do better. Then the plane starts shaking, gains more power and momentum, soon you realize, the wheels are off the ground which means you are flying. Let that sink in for a moment. You might have still been nervous then but seeing the sun bright and shinning above the clouds was an incredible wonderful sight.

In this video, I share my current thoughts surrounding my minimalism journey. This adventure started about 6 months ago by reading books, searching the web and stumbling upon useful articles such as 15 Clutter Busting Routines For Any Family by Joshua Becker. As you’ll see in the video, I share some of my struggles along with tips to encourage in your journey.

Share with us your journey, we’d love to hear from you. And don’t forget to share this with your friends using the buttons below, thanks!